V. Belfort (photo) gave up the fight against C. Weidman in May. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
The ban on hormone replacement treatment (TRT) by the Nevada Athletic Commission this Thursday directly affected Vitor belfort. The Brazilian, who was scheduled to challenge the champion Chris Weidman at UFC 173, on May 24, in Las Vegas, he would not be able to use the therapy. With that, he gave up the fight for the middleweight title and Lyoto Machida was chosen to challenge the champion.
Vitor, who claims to use TRT for health reasons, issued a statement to announce his decision. He stated that he intends to give up treatment, but he wouldn't have enough time before the fight against Weidman.
“The Nevada Athletic Commission has changed its policy and no longer licenses fighters who use TRT. Knowing that other commissions may make the same decision, I will stop taking the TRT and intend to compete in MMA without the treatment. Given the circumstances surrounding the current regulations and my next fight in May, I decided not to apply for a license to fight in the state of Nevada this time,” declared Belfort.
In turn, Lyoto does not hide his happiness at once again having the chance to fight for the belt. The Bahian athlete based in Pará has won two consecutive victories since moving down to the middleweight division. “I am very happy to have won the opportunity to fight for the middleweight belt against Chris Weidman. I’m going to train a lot for this fight,” Machida told the Fox Sports channel in the United States.
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